Cathleen ni Houlihan (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: William Butler Yeats
- First Published: 1902
- Type of Work: Play
- Type of Plot: Allegory
- Time of Work: 1798
- Setting: A cottage near Killala, Ireland
- Genres: Drama, Allegory, Symbolist literature
- Subjects: Family or family life, Revolutions, Rural or country life, Ghosts or apparitions, Poverty or poor people, Eighteenth century, Idealism, Ireland or Irish people, Peasantry or peasants
- Locales: Killala, Ireland
Characters Discussed
Cathleen ni Houlihan, “The Poor Old Woman,” who symbolizes impoverished Ireland, seeking independence from British rule. A stranger, she has come to the countryside of Killala to enlist the help of the Irish in retrieving her four stolen fields. She entrances Michael Gillane into leaving his home and joining her cause. His sacrifices and those of others transform her old age into youth. She steps from the Gillanes’ door a young queen.
Michael Gillane, a young man scheduled to be married the day after he meets Cathleen ni Houlihan. His life is...
[The entire page is 502 words long]
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